Door opener



Feb. 29, 1944.

J. ERICKSON DOOR OPENER Filed May 27, 1945 IN VEN TOR.

dish/S Em'ckson,

18 j I I TTORNEY Patented Feb. 29, 1944 DOOR OPENER Jens Erickson,Valley City, N. Dale, assignor of one-half to Henry C. Bjerke, ValleyCity,

N. Dak.

Application May 27, 1943, Serial No. 488,732

3 Claims.

This invention relates to door openers and it consists in theconstructions, arrangements and combinations herein described andclaimed.

It is the cardinal object of the invention to provide portable strutstructures which may be readily installed upon the door opening of afreight car or other structure and having vertically spaced notches forreception of a crow-bar or the like whereby the door may be elevated,and in such cases where the door is made up of separate boards nailed tothe frame posts, the crow-bar may be used to elevate the boardsseparately in a manner to avoid splintering of the boards, the splintersbeing objectionable when mixed with the grain, or other bulk commodity.

More specifically, it is an object of the invention to provide a pair ofupright strut members, each having a clamp means for securing theupright members to upright frame posts of a door, each upright memberhaving notches for support of an elevating tool such as a crow-bar.

Additional objects, advantages and features of invention will beapparent from the following description, considered in conjunction withthe accompanying drawing, wherein Figure 1 is a perspective view of theleft side of a door opening having my invention installed upon theupright of the frame.

Figure 2 is a perspective view of the device for the left side of a dooropening.

Figure 3 is a similar view of the device for use upon the right side ofthe door opening.

Figure 4 is a cross section on the line 4-4 of Figure 2.

Figure 5 is a cross section on the line 5-5 of Figure 2.

Reference is first made to Figure 1 of the drawing, wherein there isshown an upright post In forming the left side of the door opening of acar or the like, the floor of which is indicated at H. At the right sideof the opening a similar post, not shown, is employed, which isconventional.

My opener is designated by the reference character l2, two of which areemployed, one upon each of the uprights l0, and consists of an angle barl3 of suitable height so as to fit within the door opening of the car.

The angle bars l3 are of identical construction except that they areconstructed to fit the right and left uprights of a door opening. Asshown, the angle bars or struts I3 are provided at their upper ends witha U-shaped clamp i l, the bight portion l5 of which rests flatly upon aflange l6 where it is riveted or otherwise secured.

The legs I! of the clamp extend at right angles and in parallelrelation, spaced apart so as to snugly fit upon the upright ID of thedoor opening. At the lower end of the angle bars a supporting base I8 isfixed, being shown as an angular strap, one leg l9 of which is rivetedor otherwise secured to the flange IS on the opposite face to that uponwhich the clamp M is secured. The leg 20 extends at right angles to tothe angle bar and lies flush with the lower end thereof, and is adaptedto rest snugly upon the car floor, as clearly shown in Figure 1.

The flange 2| of the angle bars are extended inwardly of the dooropening in opposed relation to each other, and opening upon their outervertical edges there are formed notches 22 which function as fulcrumpoints, suitably spaced vertically of the angle bars. The spacing of thenotches 22 may vary, and as here shown are arranged in verticallydisposed pairs. The lower edge of each notch 22 is slightly recessed, asat 23, for accommodation of a crow-bar or the like. By recessing thenotches liability of slippage of the crow-bar or other tool is avoided.

In use, the angle bars I 2 are positioned upon the uprights ll] ofrespective sides of a door which will position the notches 22 inparallel relation with the boards 24 constituting the door or closure ofthe grain car. A crow-bar 25 is now placed in a notch 22 substantiallyaligned with the abutting edges of a pair of the boards 24 and forcedinwardly therebetween so as to position the end of the crow-bar beneaththe uppermost board. A downward pressure on the crow-bar will exert anupward movement of the board and the nails which were employed to securethe board in position will be drawn outwardly from the uprights l0. Eachside is worked alternately so that an even movement of the board isattained. In the event that boards of varying widths are employed informing the door or closure, the notches 22 may not be aligned withabutting edges of the boards, and in such event it will be possible toremove two or more boards at one time, depending upon the location ofthe notches. This will be possible since a substantial leverage isinherent in the structure.

While I have shown and described my door opener specifically, this is byway of illustration only, and I consider as my own all suchmodifications in construction as fairly fall within. the scope of theappended claims.

I claim:

1. A door opener comprising an upright strut member, said strut having aclamp adjacent its upper end adapted to frictionally engage an uprightforming a door-way, a base supporting foot on the strut, and said struthaving vertically spaced fulcrum points, a lever cooperative with saidfulcrum points adapted to engage a portion of a door-Way for effectingan upward movement of said portion of the door, said fulcrum pointshaving a recessed part preventing slippage of said lever.

2. A grain door opener comprising an upright 10 strut member, said strutmember having a U- shaped clamp adjacent its upper end adapted tofrictionally engage an upright forming the door opening, a, basesupporting foot on the strut, said

